| Summary: | Women living in the semi-arid region of Caatinga in the northeast of Brazil report the use of plant mixtures to treat diseases in the genitourinary tract. Plant extracts were obtained from barks to simulate traditional use. The anti-trichomonads activity as well as the cytotoxic effect of plant extracts were tested. Herein, we confirmed this traditional knowledge by testing plants aqueous extracts against <i>Trichomonas vaginalis</i> and <i>Tritrichomonas foetus</i>, the etiologic agents of human and bovine trichomoniasis. All plant extracts were active individually against at least one trichomonads species except for <i>Prosopis juliflora</i> and <i>Amburana cearensis</i>. <i>Cedrela</i> sp. was the most active against both trichomonads species. Finally, a mixture of plants used in traditional medicine was evaluated for activity. A mixture containing extracts of the plants <i>Ximenia americana</i>, <i>Anadenanthera colubrina</i> var. <i>cebil</i>, <i>Myracrodruon urundeuva</i>, <i>Sideroxylon obtusifolium</i>, and <i>Amburana cearensis</i> was active against the two trichomonads. This finding confirms the traditional practice by women living in the Caatinga region of using a mixture of plants during sitz baths to treat vaginal infections. Altogether, these results highlight the ethnopharmacological use of <i>Cedrela</i> sp. and of the plant mixture for the treatment of venereal diseases by Caatinga residents.
|
|---|